Video Poker Advice

Video Poker Today > Video Poker Advice

Like with every casino game, blackjack, roulette, slot machines, etc., there will always be someone out there boasting that they have all the answers to winning “every time” on a video poker machine, all you need to do is shell out a one time fee of $49.95 and the secrets are yours. Take our advice, these are only money making schemes and you won’t get much out of them (at least not your moneys worth). The truth is, there is no real fool proof way of beating the machine “every time”, but if you read on, we have a few tips and words of advice that may increase your game play and make you more successful in the long run. We also look at a few common myths of the video poker game and try to set everything straight.

First, if you’ve ever been in a busy casino and walked up to an empty machine, there is a good chance that at some point another player will tell you something like, there’s no use playing that machine because it’s just hit a royal flush and therefore won’t hit another for a long time or that the machine is dry and hasn’t been hitting anything all night. Don’t listen to these people, the past history of any video poker machine, like a slot machine, has no impact on what will happen next. Each play or spin is completely random and the outcome depends solely on the moment of time you’ve hit the button and whether or not you’ve picked the right cards to stay on (in other words, your skill level). There is a good chance that that guy who warned you about the machine is quite simply a bad poker player and that’s why the machine wasn’t paying out to him.

Another factor that you must take into account when picking the right machine is the machine pay table. For example, the best machines aren’t necessarily the ones that hit the most royal flushes, it’s the rest of the pay table (the outcomes that are hit more often) that will make the difference in your overall bankroll. So even though the machines advertises that if you hit a royal the payoff will be huge, make sure that the payoffs for lower outcomes (but more often hit outcomes) are worth your while. It’s easy to get caught on a machine in hopes that you will hit the Royal Flush because it advertises the highest payout of all machines. However in the mean time you will most likely hit a much larger of other winning hands while trying to get that flush but in the long run you are losing out, because this machine doesn’t pay as much for these hands the other, lower jackpot, machines will pay.

Another common thought amongst Video Poker players is that the machines that accept higher denominations are looser than those who accept lower denominations. And in this instance as well, the denomination does not play a role in whether or not you are winning, it is a combination of the pay table, your skill and luck of playing at the right machine at the right time.

You have to also pay attention to what the pay table reads. On many machines, you must play a certain number of coins to be eligible to win a certain prize amount. For example, the machine may advertise that if you hit a Royal Flush your prize will be 50 000 credits. But if you don’t read the paytable, you may miss that in order to win the 50k credits you would’ve had to play the max number of coins. So take this seriously, there is nothing worse than hitting the Royal and only being paid out a fraction of what you’re expecting because you didn’t realize that you had to play more coins to be eligible.

And finally, our most important and practical piece of advice to offer to help you maximize your video poker winnings is to learn the game and practice, practice, practice. The good thing about this game compared to most other casino games is that a big portion of how you do has to do with your skill and expertise of the game poker; it doesn’t only depend on luck. So why not try your strategy on low denomination machines or free machines found on the internet and when you are more comfortable then raise the stakes, you will be much better off in the long run than if you just jumped in head first.